I made farfel with mushrooms for my husband for years because he had asked me to. I wasn’t that excited about the side dish but it was delicious. I decided to use shiitake and cremini mushrooms which added to the flavor. Another tip was to boil the farfel in chicken broth. My husband was happy, so that makes this another go-to side dish!

My next favorite recipe was a wonderful and easy side dish. I’m giving credit to my son Josh for saying you have to try the couscous and chicken recipe in the latest Bon Appetit. He was raving about the flavors… and he was right. This is one of my new favorite side dishes… again very easy to make and a perfect time of year to use fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs from your garden or neighborhood farmers market.

I have made many corn bread recipes and although I love corn bread I have never liked the way the bread falls apart. This recipe has amazing taste and perfect consistency. It is sweet and spicy, warm and buttery. It makes a perfect side dish to anything… if you can keep your family from eating it all before dinner. I have made this in mini muffin tins and regular muffin tins, but if you can find the pans that shape your bread into mini corn loaves it makes a great presentation. Again this recipe comes from Mitchell Rosenthal’s Cooking my way Back Home. There are so many more recipes to try from this wonderful cookbook.

I always keep a bowl of hard boiled eggs in the fridge. So when I saw this recipe from Cooking my way Back Home, I knew it was a perfect compliment to the red potatoes I had just picked up at the farmers market. Potato salad was a common side in the summer at my house, crunchy, creamy, and spicy. Enjoy!

• In a saucepan, combine the potatoes with salted water to cover by 2 inches, bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to medium, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until fork-tender. Remove from the heat, drain, and spread out in a single layer on a sheet pan to cool and dry.

• While the potatoes are cooking, you can hard-boil, peel, and chop the eggs into small pieces.

Quinoa is one of those super foods… and the best part is it’s delicious. I like to mix it with bulgar, a wheat grain, and this time I added rosemary spiced walnuts and dried cranberries. This can be a side dish or served over greens as a lunch salad.

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup of black or red quinoa

• ⅓ cup of bulgar grain #2

• 1 tbsp of olive oil

• 2 cups of low salt chicken broth

• ⅓ cup of walnuts, spiced with rosemary and thyme

• ⅓ cup of dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS:

• Saute quinoa and bulgar in oil for 1 minute.

• Add chicken broth and bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce till all liquid is gone.

• Stir in walnuts and cranberries and serve. You can serve this hot or cold.

This is so simple and delicious! Take a whole head of cauliflower and slice rounds as flat as possible. Some will fall off in small pieces, use this too as it all tastes good. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 400 degrees until cauliflower is crisp and slightly browned on edges (You should turn vegetables to cook evenly.). When done add ¼ cup of freshly chopped chives, 1 tablespoon of chopped thyme, kosher salt to taste, and ½ cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese. Put in oven for 2-3 minutes more and serve. This is an excellent easy side dish. Enjoy!

Another great day at the market and I had to pick up the beautiful yellow squash blossoms. There are so many ways to enjoy the treat but I just love them in a beer batter fried in Canola oil. You can stuff them with cheese and bake, or just roast with a bit of olive oil and sea salt.

Roasting veggies with fresh herbs and olive oil is ways good! We added feta cheese but you can add Parmesan. This is a great way to enjoy summer veggies. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; prepare veggies of your assortment, dress with oil, herbs, and cheese. Then cook for approximately 20 minutes.